Final Labor RFP FY2024-5 Titled-Online Learning Portal May 13.pdf

STATE OF MARYLAND

MARYLAND STATE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR)

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)

LABOR - ONLINE LEARNING PORTAL (OLP)

RFP LABOR FY2024-5

ISSUE DATE: MAY 13, 2024.

NOTICE

A Prospective Offeror that has received this document from a source other than eMarylandMarketplace

(eMMA) https://procurement.maryland.gov should register on eMMA. See Section 4.2.

MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISES ARE ENCOURAGED TO RESPOND TO THIS

SOLICITATION.

Title: Online Learning Portal - RFP LABOR FY2024-5 ii | P a g e

RFP for Maryland Department of Labor.

VENDOR FEEDBACK FORM

To help us improve the quality of State solicitations, and to make our procurement process more responsive and business friendly, please provide comments and suggestions regarding this solicitation.

Please return your comments with your response. If you have chosen not to respond to this solicitation, please email or fax this completed form to the attention of the Procurement Officer (see Key Information Summary Sheet below for contact information).

Title: LABOR ONLINE LEARNING PORTAL Solicitation No: RFP LABOR FY2024-5

1. If you have chosen not to respond to this solicitation, please indicate the reason(s) below:

� Other commitments preclude our participation at this time.

� The subject of the solicitation is not something we ordinarily provide.

� We are inexperienced in the work/commodities required.

� Specifications are unclear, too restrictive, etc. (Explain in REMARKS section) � The scope of work is beyond our present capacity.

� Doing business with the State is simply too complicated. (Explain in REMARKS section) � We cannot be competitive. (Explain in REMARKS section) � Time allotted for completion of the Proposal is insufficient.

� Start-up time is insufficient.

� Bonding/Insurance requirements are restrictive (Explain in REMARKS section) � Proposal requirements (other than specifications) are unreasonable or too risky (Explain in

REMARKS section) � MBE or VSBE requirements (Explain in REMARKS section) � Prior State of Maryland contract experience was unprofitable or otherwise unsatisfactory.

(Explain in REMARKS section) � Payment schedule too slow � Other: __________________________________________________________________

2. If you have submitted a response to this solicitation, but wish to offer suggestions or express concerns, please use the REMARKS section below. (Attach additional pages as needed.)

REMARKS:

Vendor Name: ________________________________ Date: _______________________

Contact Person: _________________________________ Phone (____) _____ - _________________

Address: ______________________________________________________________________

E-mail Address: ________________________________________________________________ iii | P a g e

STATE OF MARYLAND

MARYLAND STATE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR)

KEY INFORMATION SUMMARY SHEET

Request for Proposals Workforce Development Program Online Learning Portal Solicitation Number: RFP LABOR FY2024-5

RFP Issue Date: Monday, May 13, 2024 RFP Issuing Office: Maryland Department of Labor (“LABOR” or “the Department”)

Workforce Development and Adult Learning Procurement Officer: Regina Gachuhi

1100 N. Eutaw Street e-mail:

Office Phone:

Regina.Gachuhi2@maryland.gov 410-767-2650

Proposals are to be sent to: Online Response via eMarylandMarketplace Advantage (eMMA) Attention of Regina Gachuhi

Pre-Proposal Conference: Wednesday May 29, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. Local Time Join with Google Meet google.com/hif-iuss-cwo https://meet.google.com/hif-iuss-cwo?hs=122&authuser=0 Join with Google Meet meet.google.com/hif-iuss-cwo Meeting ID meet.google.com/hif-iuss-cwo Phone Numbers (US) 0190-657-+1 423 PIN: 179 289 965#

See Attachment A for instructions.

Questions Due Date and Time

Monday, June 3, 2024, by 2PM Local Time

Proposal Due (Closing) Date and Time:

Monday, June 17, 2024, at 5 PM Local Time Offerors are reminded that a completed Feedback Form is requested if a no-bid decision is made (see page iv).

MBE Subcontracting Goal: 0% VSBE Subcontracting Goal:

0%

Contract Type: Firm Fixed Contract Duration: One (1) base year with two one-year options Primary Place of Performance:

On the Web

Web-based Learning SBR Designation: Yes Federal Funding: Yes https://meet.google.com/hif-iuss-cwo?hs=122&authuser=0 iv | P a g e

RFP for Maryland Department of Labor.

TABLE OF CONTENTS – RFP

1.1 Offeror Minimum Qualifications 1

2.1 Summary Statement 2

2.2 Background and Purpose 2

2.3 Responsibilities and Tasks 3

2.4 Deliverables 9

2.5 Service Level Agreement (SLA) 14

3.1 Contract Initiation Requirements 18

3.2 End of Contract Transition 18

3.3 Invoicing 19

3.4 Liquidated Damages 21

3.5 Disaster Recovery and Data 21

3.6 Insurance Requirements 22

3.7 Security Requirements 23

3.8 Problem Escalation Procedure 28

3.9 SOC 2 Type 2 Audit Report 30

3.10 Experience and Personnel 32

3.11 Substitution of Personnel 33

3.12 Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) Reports 36

3.13 Veteran Small Business Enterprise (VSBE) Reports 36

3.14 Work Orders 36

3.15 No-Cost Extensions 37

4.1 Pre-Proposal Conference 38

4.2 eMaryland Marketplace Advantage (eMMA) 38

4.3 Questions 38

4.4 Procurement Method 38

4.5 Proposal Due (Closing) Date and Time 39

4.6 Multiple or Alternate Proposals 39

4.7 Economy of Preparation 39

v | P a g e

RFP for Maryland Department of Labor.

4.8 Public Information Act Notice 39

4.9 Award Basis 39

4.10 Oral Presentation 40

4.11 Duration of Proposal 40

4.12 Revisions to the RFP 40

4.13 Cancellations 40

4.14 Incurred Expenses 41

4.15 Protest/Disputes 42

4.16 Offeror Responsibilities 41

4.17 Acceptance of Terms and Conditions 41

4.18 Proposal Affidavit 42

4.19 Contract Affidavit 42

4.20 Compliance with Laws/Arrearages 42

4.21 Verification of Registration and Tax Payment 42

4.22 False Statements 42

4.23 Payments by Electronic Funds Transfer 43

4.24 Prompt Payment Policy 43

4.25 Electronic Procurements Authorized 43

4.26 MBE Participation Goal 44

4.27 VSBE Goal 44

4.28 Living Wage Requirements 45

4.29 Federal Funding Acknowledgement 46

4.30 Conflict of Interest Affidavit and Disclosure 46

4.31 Non-Disclosure Agreement 47

4.32 HIPAA - Business Associate Agreement 47

4.33 Nonvisual Access 47

4.34 Mercury and Products That Contain Mercury 48

4.35 Location of the Performance of Services Disclosure 48

4.36 Department of Human Services (DHS) Hiring Agreement 48

4.37 Small Business Reserve (SBR) Procurement 48

4.38 Maryland Healthy Working Families Act Requirements 49

50 5.1 Two Part Submission

5.2 Proposal Delivery and Packaging 50

vi | P a g e

RFP for Maryland Department of Labor.

5.3 Volume I - Technical Proposal 50

5.4 Volume II – Financial Proposal 57

6 58

6.1 Evaluation Committee 58

6.2 Technical Proposal Evaluation Criteria 58

6.3 Financial Proposal Evaluation Criteria 58

6.4 Reciprocal Preference 58

6.5 Selection Procedures 59

6.6 Documents Required upon Notice of Recommendation for Contract Award 60

7 61 Attachment A. 58

Attachment B. 68

Attachment C. 70

Attachment D. 71

Attachment E. 72

Attachment F. 73

Attachment G. 75

Attachment H. 76

Attachment I. 77

Attachment J.

Attachment K. 79

Attachment L. 80

Attachment M. 81

Attachment N. 98

Attachment O. 99

Appendix 1. – Abbreviations and Definitions 99

Appendix 2. Offeror Information 103

1 | P a g e

RFP for Maryland Department of Labor.

1 Minimum Qualifications

1.1 Offeror Minimum Qualifications

There are no minimum qualifications for this RFP.

THE REMAINDER OF THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK.

2 | P a g e

RFP for Maryland Department of Labor.

2 Contractor Requirements: Scope of Work

2.1 Summary Statement

2.1.1 The Maryland Department of Labor or the LABOR is issuing this Request for Proposals (RFP) in order to obtain a state-of-the-art, cloud-based SaaS Online learning Portal (OLP) and associated services for adult learning and development. The online portal should provide business with the ability to enter job openings and have the system match and notify qualified applicants.

2.1.2 It is the State’s intention to obtain goods and services, as specified in this RFP, from a contract between the selected offeror and the State.

2.1.3 The Department of Labor intends to make a single award. See RFP Section

4.9 Award Basis for more Contract award information.

2.1.4 An Offeror, either directly or through its subcontractor(s), must be able to provide all goods and services and meet all of the requirements requested in this solicitation and the successful Offeror (the Contractor) shall remain responsible for Contract performance regardless of subcontractor participation in the work.

2.1.5 The purpose of this solicitation is to procure a state-of-the-art commercially available SaaS (Software as a Service) application. It should be designed for adult professional learning and development, with a state-of-the-art, cloud-based SaaS Online learning Portal (OLP) and associated services.

The goal of the OLP is to train adult professionals to successfully accomplish growth that leads to jobs and maintain competence in learning and development.

2.1.6 The State does not wish to procure a software application still under development. The SaaS software utilized in the solution shall be operational (i.e., not under development) and generally available by the due date of the Proposal.

2.1.7 A Contract award does not ensure a Contractor will receive all or any State business under the Contract.

2.2 Background, Purpose, and Goals

2.2.1 LABOR is dedicated to delivering practical solutions for misplaced workforce in the State of Maryland. Use of this tool is to provide additional resources and tools for unemployment insurance (UI) claimants profiled as mostly likely to exhaust UI benefits and reduce the average week’s duration of unemployment payments.

2.2.2 Currently, LABOR has resourceful training programs that address different needs of workforce development. The purpose of this solicitation is to add work competence in learning technology, insightful methods of enriching the workforce to move a step further in preparing for growth, with expected outcome of a better career or being employed.

2.2.3 The goal is to provide solutions to address workforce development comprised of training. The achievement of this plan closes the gaps in skills to enable the workforce to be prepared for the current job market.

3 | P a g e

2.2.3 The business need was identified for the purpose of adding more resources to the current program. The anticipation is that this added resource increases skills with the goal of getting the workforce re-employed to jobs with the newly developed competitive abilities. The Workforce Development Division oversees State and federal programs that support the needs of diverse employment backgrounds throughout Maryland.

2.2.4 State Staff and Roles

In addition to the Procurement Officer and Contract Monitor, the State LABOR Workforce Development and Adult Learning (WDAL) will provide the following staff:

A. State Project Manager

The State will provide a State Project Manager who will be responsible for:

1. Working directly with the Contractor; and,

2. Verifying full functionality of all content (after the Contractor submits migrated content and courses, and other resources and functionality.

3. Coordinating all activities with employment site locations and communicating to all staff and the Contractor ensuring all team members are updated.

B. The State Project Manager will also furnish the following:

1. Plan, execute and monitor various and specific programs targeted at defined populations to provide guidance and technical assistance to field staff in order to meet contract performance standards.

2. Develop short- and long-range plans for program operations and resources.

3. Participate in regular staff meetings to provide information and opportunities for discussion with the Director of Workforce Development and the Director of Apprenticeship and staff concerning policies, program productivity and other activities.

2.3 Responsibilities and Tasks

The Contractor shall develop all resources, processes, content, and procedures needed for the training. The responsibilities and tasks include but are not limited to agendas, PowerPoints, assessments, videos, worksheets, feedback forms, instructions, how to log in and printable training materials and instructions. As a result, content should support mixed methods of teaching for blended learning that may provide better results versus a single mode of instruction.

A. The OLP specifications that WDAL is looking for are as follows:

1. Online Learning Library System

2. Web-Based Access

3. HIPAA and PII Compliant Storage

4. Compliant with International Data Storage Requirements

5. User Administration Capabilities

6. Licensing for up to 18,000 Users and Scalable for Growth

7. User Training and Product Support

8. Mobile Accessible

9. Unique Online Learning Library content

10. High-Quality Interactive Content

11. Multiple Language Support and content.

4 | P a g e

12. Certification and Continuing Education Programs

13. Insights-Based Curation

14. Data-Based Content Roadmap

15. 24/7 User Access to Online Content per License

16. Task-Based Learning

17. Video-Based Training

18. Downloadable Exercise Files

19. Learner Management Dashboard with Engagement Metrics and Reporting

Capabilities

20. Printable and Digital Certificates of Completion

21. Customizable Learning Paths

22. Integration site for the users to network with other job seekers, employers, and trainers.

2.3.1 Contractor-Supplied Hardware, Software, and Materials

A. By responding to this RFP and accepting a Contract award, the Offeror specifically agrees that for any software, hardware, or hosting service that it proposes, the State will have the right to purchase such item(s) from another source, instead of from the selected Offeror.

B. SaaS applications shall be accessible from various client devices through a thin client interface such as a Web browser (e.g., Web-based email) or a program interface.

C. The State shall permit limited user-specific application configuration settings.

D. All Upgrades and regulatory updates shall be provided at no additional cost.

E. The State also requires that the Offeror provide fully functional, generally available software and multiple-user licenses for purchase as needed throughout the life of the Contract.

F. The Offeror shall install and provide all documentation for the software furnished under the Contract.

G. Material costs shall be passed through with no mark-up by the Contractor.

H. The Contractor shall prepare software releases and stage at the LABOR for validation in the system test environment. LABOR will provide authorization to proceed.

2.3.2 Required Project Policies, Guidelines and Methodologies

The Contractor shall be required to comply with all applicable laws, regulations, policies, standards, and guidelines affecting Information Technology projects, which may be created or changed periodically. The offeror is required to review all applicable links provided below and state compliance in its response.

It is the responsibility of the Contractor to ensure adherence and to remain abreast of new or revised laws, regulations, policies, standards, and guidelines affecting project execution. These include, but are not limited to:

5 | P a g e

A. The State of Maryland System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) methodology at:

http://doit.maryland.gov/SDLC/Pages/agile-sdlc.aspx;

B. The State of Maryland Information Technology Security Policy and Standards at:

http://www.DoIT.maryland.gov- keyword: Security Policy;

C. The State of Maryland Information Technology Non-Visual Standards at:

http://doit.maryland.gov/policies/Pages/ContractPolicies.aspx;

D. The State of Maryland Information Technology Project Oversight at:

http://doit.maryland.gov/epmo/Pages/ProjectOversight.aspx;

E. The Contractor shall follow project management methodologies consistent with the most recent edition of the Project Management Institute’s Project Management Body of Knowledge Guide.

2.3.3 Product Requirements

1. The offeror’s OLP will provide LABOR’s DWDAL with enhanced service capabilities as a standard package of job seeker tools. In providing workforce services, DWDAL will use tools and technology that can be provided to improve the participants we serve to meet or exceed program goals. Therefore, the offeror will provide administrators who work with the customers with complete details or tracks of the software packages. The offeror will specify in the form of continuous training to administrators, on changes or upgrades occurring to the software packages delivered. The training for administrators will be used in user management during the term of the contract.

2. The product should provide the ability to access learning content to support training and growth.

3. The OLP shall be learner-centric and put focus on learner engagement. It will be compatible with video conferencing technology (Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and other web video learning tools to facilitate synchronous learning.) The OLP should be designed for professional learning, providing current job market competitive skills for workforce development. It should be capable of improving many areas of skills and delivering on-demand workplace competencies that will enable people to find jobs.

4. Courses should be available in multiple languages. Spanish language is required.

5. Licensing required is for a minimum of at least 18,000 Users and Scalable for Growth

6. There will be ongoing support for user training and product support available as packages change when technology changes or updates are done for newer packages. The Workforce Development staff performs training full time even when the online application is in operation. The offeror will hold training sessions for staff in all areas selected prior to launching the portal to the users. Workforce Development staff play a key role in supporting the workforce daily, so there should be continuous staff training as technology changes at no extra cost to the State. The staff training should be planned as a continued and regularly scheduled monthly or quarterly, live web-based training event.

http://www.doit.maryland.gov/

6 | P a g e

7. There should be a library of recorded staff training webinars organized by topic for easy access and step-by-step instructions available online and in a downloadable, printable format that guides end-users in navigating the interface, accessing training. Staff members will be working directly with unemployed clients looking for jobs.

8. Organize staff and user technical support that minimally offers staff and end-users phone and email options to communicate with technical support specialists to resolve technical issues.

9. The OLP must be cloud based and accessible via multiple devices and platforms both online and offline. Content must be updated on a continual basis, be intuitive to navigate, provide learning pathways by industry or occupation (and/or the ability to bundle courses quickly and easily into learning pathways) and available in multiple languages.

10. The OLP should be capable of offering industry recognized Certification preparation and continuing Education Courses (CEU’s). On-demand courses to assist in the preparation of professional certification exams and to earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for industry recognized programs.

11. The OLP should possess a responsive design that includes a mobile application for Internet Operating System (iOS) and Android. The OLP shall be capable of registering users, building content, testing, quizzing, evaluating, analyzing data, providing certificates, emailing notifications, reporting, and tracking activities. Capacity to provide downloadable exercise files and closed captioning.

12. There are areas in the Workforce learners’ community with limited digital knowledge. The learning portal should be friendly, easy to log in, make it clear on every screen and show learners how to interact with it. It will be easy to navigate seamlessly, with a user interface that is intuitive to use and brings the Workforce learners updated with the latest technology.

13. The offeror will deliver custom career and skills paths that promote courses, knowledge, and even live training, while addressing gaps for workforce seeking jobs. The learning modules should be engaging and create effective and relevant learning experiences to a learner’s sense of purpose.

14. The offeror will provide the right learning approach, case studies, simulations, and problems-solving activities, examples of activities to utilize for the online courses and provide learner's progress in terms of course completion, identification of knowledge gaps, participation and engagement level, and time taken to complete the course. The learning portal will include interactive elements in the courses provided;

15. Offerors may propose open-source software; however, the Offeror must provide operational support for the proposed software as part of its Proposal.

16. The learning portal will provide unlimited access to all features. The model provided will not require further payment subscriptions by users to gain full access to the system by paying extra for subscription costs.

17. Some learners may have trouble with online training due to various disabilities or learning difficulties. The learning portal should provide American with Disabilities (ADA) compliant capabilities or accessible tools

7 | P a g e for disabilities and special needs with hearing or sight impairment to help navigate self-paced learning.

18. The offeror shall be authorized to furnish the proposed goods and services.

Offerors proposing to resell services of another entity must be authorized by such other entity.

19. No international processing for State Data: As described in Section 3.7 Security Requirements, Offerors are advised that any processing or storage of data outside of the continental U.S. is prohibited.

20. Offeror consistent expiration dates: A Purchase Order (PO) for a service already being delivered to the LABOR under the Contract shall terminate on the same calendar day as the prior product/service. As appropriate, charges shall be pro-rated.

21. Any Contract award is contingent on the State’s agreement, during the Proposal evaluation process, to any applicable terms of use and any other agreement submitted. Such agreed upon terms of use shall apply consistently across services ordered under the Contract.

22. The Contractor shall not establish any auto-renewal of services beyond the period identified in Contract documents.

23. In addition to any notices of renewal sent to the Department, Contractors shall email notices of renewal to the e-mail address designated by the Contract Monitor.

2.3.4 Maintenance and Support

Maintenance and support, and Contractor’s ongoing maintenance and support obligations, are defined as follows:

A. Maintenance and support begin at the State Department of Labor acceptance of initial startup activities. Billing for such maintenance and support shall commence after the Notice to Proceed (NTP) is received and the contract signed.

There will be no extra charges for any work provided beyond the agreed amount on the contract. This eliminates extra charges on hours spent on any tasks.

B. Software maintenance includes all future software updates and system enhancements applicable to system modules licensed without further charge to all licensed users maintaining a renewable software support contract.

C. Support shall be provided for superseded releases and back releases still in use by the State.

D. For the first year and all subsequent Contract years, the following services shall be provided for the current version and one previous version of any Software provided with the Deliverables, commencing upon:

1) Error Correction. Upon notice by the State of a problem with the Software (which problem can be verified), reasonable efforts to correct or provide a working solution for the problem.

2) Material Defects. Contractor shall notify the State of any material errors or defects in the Deliverables known or made known to Contractor from any source during the life of the Contract that could cause the production of inaccurate or otherwise materially incorrect results. The Contractor

8 | P a g e shall initiate actions as may be commercially necessary or proper to effect corrections of any such errors or defects.

3) Updates. The contractor will provide to the State at no additional charge all new releases and bug fixes (collectively referred to as “Updates”) for any software Deliverable developed or published by the Contractor and made available to its other customers.

E. Operations tasks to include virus scans.

F. Activity reporting

2.3.5 Technical Support

1. “Technical Support” means Contractor-provided assistance for the services or Solution furnished under the Contract, after initial end-user support confirms a technical issue that requires additional troubleshooting capabilities; sometimes referenced as Tier II – IV support.

2. Technical Support shall be available during Normal State Business Hours.

3. The State shall be able to contact a Technical Support team member 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, and 365 days per year.

4. Contractor Personnel providing technical support shall be familiar with the State’s account (i.e., calls shall not be sent to a general queue).

5. Contractor shall return calls for service of emergency system issues (see Section 2.5 Service Level Agreement) within one (1) hour.

6. Calls for non-emergency IT service requests will be returned within three (3) hours or immediately the following day if after Normal State Business Hours.

7. The State shall be provided with information on software problems encountered at other locations, along with the solution to those problems, when relevant to State software.

8. Provide credentials and access to staging, testing, and production environments.

9. Provide system administrator and user documentation on any configuration the Contractor performed on its products/services to produce/maintain the Department’s iteration of the Solution.

There will be 40 number of LABOR trainers or Administrators (Train the Trainers).

10. Contractor shall furnish Staging, Test, and Production environments for course development. The Staging environment will be used for system users developing course content; to facilitate third party development of course materials; certain users in the Staging environment may not be issued licenses in either Test or Production.

2.3.6 Backups

i) The Contractor shall:

A. Perform backups for all application and configuration data that are necessary to restore the application to full operability on suitable hardware. The backup shall consist of at least:

1) Incremental daily backups, retained for one (1) month, 9 | P a g e

2) Full weekly backups, retained for three (3) months, and

3) Last weekly backup for each month maintained for two (2) years;

B. Maintain one annual backup for at least 3 years;

C. Send the weekly backup electronically to a contractor facility approved by the State;

D. Encrypt the backups using a shared key;

E. Perform a backup recovery at least semi-annually; and

F. Provide on demand support for the State’s recovery of a backup set.

2.4 Deliverables

A. For every deliverable, the Contractor shall request the Contract Monitor confirm receipt of that deliverable by sending an e-mail identifying the deliverable name and date of receipt.

2.4.1 Deliverable Submission

A. For every deliverable, the Contractor shall request the Contract Monitor confirm receipt of that deliverable by sending an e-mail identifying the deliverable name and date of receipt.

B. For every deliverable, the Contractor shall submit to the Contract Monitor, by e-mail, an Agency Deliverable Product Acceptance Form (DPAF), an example of which is provided on the DoIT web page here:

http://doit.maryland.gov/contracts/Documents/_procurementForms/DeliverablePr oductAcceptanceForm-DPAFsample.pdf.

C. Unless specified otherwise, written deliverables shall be compatible with Microsoft Office, Microsoft Project or Microsoft Visio within two (2) versions of the current version. At the Contract Monitor’s discretion, the Contract Monitor may request one hard copy of a written deliverable.

D. A standard deliverable review cycle will be elaborated and agreed-upon between the State and the Contractor. This review process is entered into when the Contractor completes a deliverable.

F. For any written deliverable, the Contract Monitor may request a draft version of the deliverable, to comply with the minimum deliverable quality criteria listed in Section 2.4.3 Minimum Deliverable Quality. Drafts of each final deliverable, except status reports, are required at least two weeks in advance of when the final deliverables are due (with the exception of deliverables due at the beginning of the project where this lead time is not possible, or where draft delivery date is explicitly specified). Draft versions of a deliverable shall comply with the minimum deliverable quality criteria listed in Section 2.4.3 Minimum Deliverable Quality.

2.4.2 Deliverable Acceptance

A. A final deliverable shall satisfy the scope and requirements of this RFP for that deliverable, including the quality and acceptance criteria for a final deliverable as defined in Section 2.4.4 Deliverable Descriptions/Acceptance Criteria.

B. The Contract Monitor shall review a final deliverable to determine compliance with the acceptance criteria as defined for that deliverable. The Contract Monitor is responsible for coordinating comments and input from various team members

10 | P a g e and stakeholders. The Contract Monitor is responsible for providing clear guidance and direction to the Contractor in the event of divergent feedback from various team members.

C. The Contract Monitor will issue to the Contractor a notice of acceptance or rejection of the deliverable in the DPAF (see online sample). Following the return of the DPAF indicating “Accepted” and signed by the Contract Monitor, the Contractor shall submit a proper invoice in accordance with the procedures in Section 3.3. The invoice must be accompanied by a copy of the executed DPAF, or payment may be withheld.

G. In the event of rejection, the Contract Monitor will formally communicate in writing any deliverable deficiencies or non-conformities to the Contractor, describing in those deficiencies what shall be corrected prior to acceptance of the deliverable in sufficient detail for the Contractor to address the deficiencies. The Contractor shall correct deficiencies and resubmit the corrected deliverable for acceptance within the agreed-upon time period for correction.

2.4.3 Minimum Deliverable Quality

The Contractor shall subject each deliverable to its internal quality-control process prior to submitting the deliverable to the State.

Each deliverable shall meet the following minimum acceptance criteria:

A. Be presented in a format appropriate for the subject matter and depth of discussion.

B. Be organized in a manner that presents a logical flow of the deliverable’s content.

C. Represent factual information reasonably expected to have been known at the time of submittal.

D. In each section of the deliverable, include only information relevant to that section of the deliverable.

E. Contain content and presentation consistent with industry best practices in terms of deliverable completeness, clarity, and quality.

F. Meets the acceptance criteria applicable to that deliverable, including any State policies, functional or non-functional requirements, or industry standards.

G. Contains no structural errors such as poor grammar, misspellings, or incorrect punctuation.

H. Must contain the date, author, and page numbers. When applicable for a deliverable, a revision table must be included.

I. A draft written deliverable may contain limited structural errors such as incorrect punctuation and shall represent a significant level of completeness toward the associated final written deliverable. The draft written deliverable shall otherwise comply with the minimum deliverable quality criteria above.

2.4.4 Deliverable Descriptions/Acceptance Criteria

In addition to the items identified in the table below, the Contractor may suggest other subtasks, artifacts, or deliverables to improve the quality and success of the assigned tasks.

11 | P a g e

Labor Deliverables Summary Table*

ID # Deliverable Description

Acceptance Criteria Due Date / Frequency

2.4.4.1 Initial Project

Planning Meeting (Kick-off)

Contractor shall provide:

Meeting agenda Next steps/action item Upon completion of meeting Contract Monitor concludes the meeting or performs a signoff

Initial Delivery: 10 Business Days after NTP (Notice to Proceed)

2.4.4.2 Project Schedule

It is a timetable that outlines start and end dates and milestones that must be met for the project to be completed on time.

The project schedule is often used in conjunction with a work breakdown structure (WBS) to distribute work among team members.

Microsoft Excel schedule demonstrating tasks, task estimates, resource assignments, and dependencies for both Agency and Contractor Personnel.

As identified in Approved Project Schedule (this process or pattern of how they will work will be on the proposal)

2.4.4.3 Migration Plan

Creating and getting ready for links for courses, videos etc., search engines, and access, sign-ins to the web

Testing Plan for migration

Testing access to sites, different sections of the Learning software.

resources for full functionality, the functionality of the home page and the login for participants, and the registration.

As identified in Approved Project Schedule

12 | P a g e

2.4.4.4 Training Plan Training programs

that are engaging, interactive and accessible from any device.

Training SaaS available in multiple languages and support multiple languages.

Learning paths, ensuring users can quickly find and learn what's relevant to users.

Description of training that will be provided consistent with the roles identified and the different sections of the Learning (SaaS) - Software as a Subscription.

Confirmation by project team that plan will be met based on schedule.

Signed acceptance by Contract Monitor.

As identified in Approved Project Schedule

2.4.4.5 Reporting &

Analytics

Track learning activities of users.

Assess training progress with customized reporting tools, helping discover growth and learning opportunities.

Generate data reporting nature of progress achieved that would reflect to

As identified in Approved Project Schedule.

13 | P a g e

Workforce Development Program accomplishments that demonstrate that users utilizing the system are making progress enough to produce jobs; reports that provide key insights that to indicate meeting expectations. Prove learning programs, track learner progress and report on the learning progress.

2.4.4.6 Guide and

preparation for training the administrators.

Section 2.3.3

Online training tutorials available for training the trainers, to be included in total contract costs.

Yearly virtual training for system administrator updates, if requested, to be included in total contract costs.

Emergency system administrator training, if required, to be included in total contract costs.

Completed 30 Business Days prior to the scheduled production and deployment of the Learning Software according to the approved Project Schedule.

2.4.4.7 Production and

Deployment of the Solution

OLP is fully configured, tested, and all data is successfully migrated into production, to include, but not be limited to:

1. Home page with login

14 | P a g e

2. User course migration

3. Professional Development course migration

4. User migration

6. Public-facing content, such as learning modules, interactives, and other resources migration

7. Registration is functional

*The deliverables summary table may not list every contractually required deliverable. Offerors and Contractors should read the RFP thoroughly for all Contract requirements and deliverables.

2.5 Service Level Agreement (SLA)

2.5.1 Definitions

A. A “Problem” is defined as any situation or issue reported via a help desk ticket that is related to the system operation that is not an enhancement request.

B. “Problem resolution time” is defined as the period of time from when the help desk ticket is opened to when it is resolved.

C. Monthly Charges: for purposes of SLA credit calculation, Monthly Charges are defined as the charges set forth in Attachment B, Financial Proposal Form, invoiced during the month of the breach for the monthly fixed services, or, in the event of annual billing, 1/12 of the annual invoice amount Financial Proposal Form.

2.5.2 SLA Requirements

The Contractor shall:

A. Be responsible for complying with all performance measurements and shall also ensure compliance by all subcontractors.

B. Meet the Problem response time and resolution requirements as defined in Section 2.6.9.

C. Provide a monthly report to monitor and detail response times and resolution times.

D. Respond to and update all Problems, including recording when a Problem is resolved and its resolution. Appropriate Department of Labor personnel shall be notified when a Problem is resolved.

E. The Department of Labor shall make the final determination regarding Problem severity.

15 | P a g e

F. Contractor shall review any Problem with Department of Labor to establish the remediation plan and relevant target dates.

2.5.3 SLA Effective Date (SLA Activation Date)

SLAs set forth herein shall be in effect beginning with the commencement of monthly services as of the completion of the Transition-In Period for this solicitation.

Beginning on the SLA Activation Date, for any performance measurement not met during the monthly reporting period, the SLA credit for that individual measurement shall be applied to the Monthly Charges.

2.5.4 Service Level Reporting

A. Contractor performance will be monitored by the Department of Labor.

B. The Contractor shall provide detailed monthly reports evidencing the attained level for each SLA.

C. The Contractor shall provide a monthly summary report for SLA performance.

D. Monthly reports shall be delivered via e-mail to the Contract Monitor by the 15th of the following month. Procurement Officers you can configure this to say that they must be delivered on a regular schedule in advance of the invoice.

E. If any of the performance measurements are not met during the monthly reporting period, the Contractor will be notified of the standard that is not in compliance.

2.5.5 SLA Service Credits

Time is an essential element of the Contract. For work that is not completed within the time(s) specified in the service level metrics below OR in the Contract, the Contractor shall be liable for service credits in the amount(s) provided for in the Contract.

Service credits will be cumulative for each missed service requirement. The State, at its option for amount due the State as service credits, may deduct such from any money payable to the Contractor or may bill the Contractor as a separate item. In the event of a catastrophic failure affecting all services OR the entire Solution, all affected SLAs shall be credited to the State.

In no event shall the aggregate of all SLA credits paid to the State in any calendar month exceed 25% of the Monthly Charges.

Example: If the Monthly Charges were $100,000 and one SLA was missed, with an applicable 4% credit, the credit to the monthly invoice would be $4,000, and the State would pay a net Monthly Charge of $96,000.

The parties agree that any assessment of service credits shall be construed and treated by the parties not as imposing a penalty upon the Contractor, but as compensation to the State for the Contractor’s failure to satisfy its service level obligations.

2.5.6 Service Level Measurements Table (System performance)

The Contractor shall comply with the service level measurements in the following table:

16 | P a g e

No

Service Requiremen t

Measurement Service Level Agreement

SLA

Credit

1 Problem Response Time – High

Average Response Time for High Priority Problems.

98% <15 minutes

1%

2 Problem Response Time - Normal

Average Response Time for Normal or Low Priority Problems

98% <2 hours

1%

3 Problem Resolution Time - High

Resolution Time for each High Priority Problem

98% <4 hours

1%

4 Problem Resolution Time - Normal

Resolution Time for Normal Priority Problems

98% <24 hours

1%

5 Problem Resolution Time - Low

Resolution Time for Low Priority Problems 98% <72 hours

1%

6 Scheduled Downtime/ Maintenance

Scheduled maintenance and downtime shall only occur during non-business hours*. The Contractor shall provide 14 calendar days’ notice prior to any scheduled downtime.

6 hours each month

1%

7 Service Availability

All application functionality and accessibility shall be maintained at 99.5% uptime performance levels. Contractors shall minimize or eliminate unscheduled network downtime to .5% or less.

<99.5% 1%

9 Disaster Recovery

Contractor shall provide recovery and continuity of operations within 24 hours of a System/network failover.

>24 hours 1%

10 Notification of Security Incident

Notification of a Security Incident within 30 minutes of occurrence

1%

11 Security Incident Reporting

Security incident reporting requirement in 30 minutes or 1 hour

>1 hour 1%

The State shall have the unilateral right to reallocate percentages among the various SLAs annually on the anniversary of the Contract, provided that such reallocation will not exceed the cap identified in

2.5.7 Problem Response Definitions and Times

The Contractor shall meet the Problem response time and resolution requirements.

17 | P a g e

The Contractor shall provide a monthly report to monitor and detail response times and resolution times.

Service Priority

Respon se Time

Resolution Time

Response Availabili ty

Work Outage Users Affected

Emergenc y

Less than 15 minutes

Within 2 hours of first report

24 hours per day, seven days per week

Major portions of the System are inaccessible.

Systems or users are unable to work, or to perform some portion of their job.

Users or internal System functionalities are impaired. To include Claimants and Employers

High Less than 30 minutes

Within 4 hours after first report

24 hours per day, seven days per week

Major portions of the System are inaccessible.

Systems or users are unable to work, or to perform some portion of their job.

Affects most users to include public facing users Claimants & Employers Affects high profile users (i.e., executive management)

Normal Within 2 hours

Within 1 day (24 hours) after first report.

If the outage is not resolved a resolution plan must be in place.

Mon-Fri, 7AM-7PM

Specific non-critical features are not operating as specified.

Systems or users are unable to perform a small portion of their job but can complete most tasks.

Affects a number of users

Low Within 2 hours

Within 3 days (72 hours) after first report.

If the outage is not resolved a resolution plan must be in place.

Mon-Fri, 7AM-7PM

Lower priority features that can be done manually are not operating as specified.

Often a request for service with ample lead time.

Affects a number of users

18 | P a g e

3 Contractor Requirements: General

3.1 Contract Initiation Requirements

A. Contractor shall schedule and hold a kickoff meeting within 10 Business Days of NTP Date. At the kickoff, the Contractor shall furnish an updated Project Schedule describing the activities for the Contractor, the State, and any third parties for fully transitioning to the Contractor’s Solution.

3.2 End of Contract Transition

3.2.1 The Contractor shall provide transition assistance as requested by the State to facilitate the orderly transfer of services to the State or a follow-on contractor, for a period up to 60 days prior to the Contract end date, or the termination thereof. Such transition efforts shall consist, not by way of limitation, of:

A. Provide additional services and support as requested to successfully complete the transition;

B. Maintain the services called for by the Contract at the required level of proficiency.

3.2.2 The Contractor shall work toward a prompt and timely transition, proceeding in accordance with the directions of the Contract Monitor. The Contract Monitor may provide the Contractor with additional instructions to meet specific transition requirements prior to the end of the Contract.

3.2.3 The Contractor shall ensure that all necessary knowledge and materials for the tasks completed are transferred to the custody of State personnel or a third party, as directed by the Contract Monitor.

3.2.4 The Contractor shall support end-of-Contract transition efforts with technical and project support to include but not be limited to:

A. The Contractor shall provide a draft Transition-Out Plan 120 Business Days in advance of Contract end date.

B. Generated data reports on participants’ completion of registered courses and certifications, incomplete registered courses, training and certifications for all courses.

C. Complete transfer of grades, Certifications, and proof of course completion recorded as proof of work done in the form of, example transcripts.

D. The Transition-Out Plan shall address at a minimum the following areas:

1. Communications and reporting process between the Contractor, the Department of Labor, and the Contract Monitor;

2. Connectivity services provided, activities and approximate timelines required for Transition-

Out;

3. The Contractor shall ensure all documentation and data including, but not limited to, System

Documentation and current operating procedures, is current and complete with a hard and soft copy in a format prescribed by the Contract Monitor.

4. The Contractor shall provide copies of any current daily and weekly back-ups to the Department of Labor, or a third party as directed by the Contract Monitor as of the final date of transition, but no later than the final date of the Contract.

19 | P a g e

3.2.5 Return and Maintenance of State Data

A. Upon termination or the expiration of the Contract Term, the Contractor shall: (a) return to the State all State data in either the form it was provided to the Contractor or in a mutually agreed format along with the schema necessary to read such data; (b) preserve, maintain, and protect all State data until the earlier of a direction by the State to delete such data or the expiration of 90 days (“the retention period”) from the date of termination or expiration of the Contract term; (c) after the retention period, the Contractor shall securely dispose of and permanently delete all State data in all of its forms, such as disk, CD/DVD, backup tape and paper such that it is not recoverable, according to National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)-approved methods with certificates of destruction to be provided to the State; and (d) prepare an accurate accounting from which the State may reconcile all outstanding accounts. The final monthly invoice for the services provided hereunder shall include all charges for the 90-day data retention period.

B. During any period of service suspension, the Contractor shall maintain all State data in its then existing form, unless otherwise directed in writing by the Contract Monitor.

C. In addition to the foregoing, the State shall be entitled to any post-termination/expiration assistance generally made available by the Contractor with respect to the services.

3.3 Invoicing

3.3.1 General

A. The Contractor shall mail the original of each invoice and signed authorization to invoice to the Contract Monitor.

B. All invoices for services shall be verified by the Contractor as accurate at the time of submission.

C. An invoice not satisfying the requirements of a Proper Invoice (as defined at COMAR

21.06.09.01 and .02) cannot be processed for payment. To be considered a Proper Invoice, invoices must include the following information, without error:

1) Contractor name and address;

2) Remittance address;

3) Federal taxpayer identification (FEIN) number, social security number, as appropriate;

4) Invoice period (i.e., time period during which services covered by invoice were performed);

5) Invoice date;

6) Invoice number;

7) State assigned Contract number;

8) State assigned (Blanket) Purchase Order number(s);

9) Goods or services provided;

10) Amount due; and

11) Any additional documentation required by regulation or the Contract.

D. Invoices that contain both fixed price and time and material items shall clearly identify each item as either fixed price or time and material billing.

E. The Department reserves the right to reduce or withhold Contract payment in the event the Contractor does not provide the Department with all required deliverables within the time frame

20 | P a g e specified in the Contract or otherwise breaches the terms and conditions of the Contract until such time as the Contractor brings itself into full compliance with the Contract.

F. Any action on the part of the Department, or dispute of action by the Contractor, shall be in accordance with the provisions of Md. Code Ann., State Finance and Procurement Article §§ 15-215 through 15-223 and with COMAR 21.10.04.

G. The State is generally exempt from federal excise taxes, Maryland sales and use taxes, District of Columbia sales taxes and transportation taxes. The Contractor; however, is not exempt from such sales and use taxes and may be liable for the same.

H. Invoices for final payment shall be clearly marked as “FINAL” and submitted when all work requirements have been completed and no further charges are to be incurred under the Contract.

In no event shall any invoice be submitted later than 60 calendar days from the Contract termination date.

3.3.2 Invoice Submission Schedule

The Contractor shall submit invoices in accordance with the following schedule:

A. For items of work for which there is a one–time pricing (see Attachment B – Financial Proposal Form) those items shall be billed in the month following the acceptance of the work by the Department.

B. For items of work for which there are annual recurring charges (see Attachment B – Financial Proposal Form), half of the annual cost shall be billed on a bi-annual basis following the acceptance of the work by the Department.

3.3.3 Deliverable Invoicing

A. Deliverable invoices shall be accompanied by notice(s) of acceptance issued by the State for all invoices submitted for payment.